POOPLE ANSWERS

OCTOBER 5, 2025 ยท PUZZLE #52

PANS to POOP.

One shortest route in 5 moves.

00
PANS
START
01
CANS
LETTER 1
02
CONS
LETTER 2
03
COOS
LETTER 3
04
COOP
LETTER 4
05
POOP
GOAL

Why this route takes 5 moves

PANS and POOP differ in 3 letter positions. The shortest accepted-word route needs 2 additional moves; the first letter changes more than once.

Start by changing the first letter: PANS โ†’ CANS. Near the goal, COOP is one letter from POOP; the last move changes its first letter.

Every letter change

  1. PANS โ†’ CANS: change letter 1 from P to C.
  2. CANS โ†’ CONS: change letter 2 from A to O.
  3. CONS โ†’ COOS: change letter 3 from N to O.
  4. COOS โ†’ COOP: change letter 4 from S to P.
  5. COOP โ†’ POOP: change letter 1 from C to P.